Life in SJ

Alright no "business" trips this past weekend so I just explored San Jose with Nela and her amigos. Thursday went to Latino Rock Cafe and saw a great band called Parque en el Espacio (we actually might see them again tomorrow). Friday we went out and then Saturday checked out downtown San Jose. We went to breakfast and then the market. The market was neat, lots of cool cheap things, from Costa Rica trinkets, to meat, to art supplies. Sunday was a day to relax and take in the sun (this weekend had the first days that I have been here in the rainy season that haven't rained). Today was cold and gray though, so I am glad I did my laundry and sat outside. I also had time to cook a delicious meal -- Tilapia with Mango Salsa and then for dessert Banana/Mango/ Pineapple Skewers dipped in Chocolate.. mmm. Andres who lives upstairs joined for dinner which was nice to talk with him for a bit. So, those were the highlights, but now I will just explain some things a bit about being here.

I live in a house which is also the Solimar Office where I work. The house is pretty empty and the rooms are the offices. The kitchen has a microwave, toaster oven, stove (with no gas), and like a knife. So I have to get inventive planning dinners. But I also feel like I have to work a lot because Nora comes at 8 and then people don't really leave! haha But it's all good. And Andres, the president, lives upstairs, it has an outdoor staircase though so it's pretty separate.

So I love the Costa Rican greeting of kiss/hug when I first got here I was caught off guard, but then that made me wonder: In the US there are good and bad handshakes are there good and bad kisses/hugs or what if you don't really like the person.. so I asked and it does exist, its a "pirate kiss" for people you don't necessarily like, where its just quick, and obviously longer hugs for friends/people you like.

So my what I learned of the week. Bringing my perfume was one of the best decisions I made (Dolce & Gabbana light blue, smells so good). Costa Ricans all smell AMAZING, girls, guys, young, old, everyone. And I concluded it is because they all kiss/hug each other all the time. I was talking to one Tico about it, they said they like to be clean and smell clean. But either way, I love it, they smell great! So bringing my good smelling lotion and perfume was a great decision. (In the picture, Nela, Ana, Carlos, Hime, Me in San Jose)

Well I am going to go sleep, I am tired from work and pilates. But Andres just came home during this blog and I he had me try some Coconut Juice, which apparently is good for digestion (I feel like they say that about everything). But it was very good, tasted like watered down juice with a slightly milky soft feeling. In Limon, on the Caribbean Coast, they make really nice rice and beans and sauces with it apparently, and I actually did try some which were great.

South Caribbean Coast

Well, yesterday I returned home (San Jose that is) from a weekend in the South Caribbean. It was amazing! The Caribbean is an unique place in Costa Rica because of all the island immigrants and it has such a laid back atmosphere, much slower than any other part of the country. It is also a lot less built up than the Pacific Coast and has more remote place to explore.
My first adventure was White Water Rafting on the Pacaure River. This river is ranked by National Geographic as one of the top ten best rivers to raft in the world (it's number 5)!! But first to get there I rode about two hours through mountains and national parks, got backed up a bit because of the landslides that close parts of the windy roads. After the traditional Costa Rican breakfast we headed to the river. It was spectacular, none of the research I had done before could prepare you for the towering mountains, the waterfalls that cascaded out of the rocks and jungle hundreds of feet above that were around every turn, or the spectacular canyons we rafted through. And the III and IV class rapids were awesome, especially with all the rain recently. We rafted for about two hours, then the guides had the lunch down to a science, it was an awesome lunch, then continued for another two hours. It was a good time, and would definitely highly highly recommend it to anyone planning on going to Costa Rica.
Then another two hour ride to Cahuita. Cahuita I loved, so laid back, everyone just hanging out on the main gravel road, calypso music, gorgeous beaches, it had it all. The next morning went snorkeling on the coral reef (oh gosh the water is so warm and blue too) and then a hike through the National Park. Saw lots of fun things like monkeys, sloths, bats, lizards, and learned about a bunch of cool plants. And actually ate a live termite, tasted minty!
Then left there to go a bit down the bumpy roads to Puerto Viejo. Puerto Veijo has a bit livelier night life, long stretches of beaches with great surfing. But I got there late so I just hung out at the bungalow place I was staying at.
Got picked up early the next morning for a four hour, crazy ride, back to San Jose. Shared the bus with some older couple that did not talk to us, two guys from CA and two women from NJ, one had travel scrabble so we played that!
This was the first time I have ever actually traveled/explored a destination alone and it's actually really cool. You meet a ton of interesting people and people are friendlier to you too. (And it's nice the hotels know who I am and treat me well) Also handed out some of my Solimar business cards to interested people I talked to, so maybe after the site is up and running it will drum up some business, haha!
This weekend I do not have an "work" trips planned for me. But I have not yet had the chance to check out downtown San Jose, so Saturday I am planning on going there with Nela's friend Ana.

My words of advice or what I have learned for this post:
Oxy Clean wipes are another MUST HAVE when traveling. White skirt + mysteriously cut bloody finger+ Oxy Clean wipes = A perfectly white skirt you would have never known had drops of blood on it.

Woah!! A cat just walked in the door and scared the crap out of me, but I think I scared it too by accident!

Escazu Week One

Wow, so I really cannot believe I have been here over a week. Went so fast, and I already knew it was going to be like this. Six weeks, way to short! But I wanted to write about life before I go on my first trip this weekend, because that will probably take up the next blog.

But week one has gone well, actually gotten a lot of work done, and am now an expert on destinations in Costa Rica. I have gotten into the routine of going to pilates three nights a week for an hour and a half with Nela, which is good and its only like 3-6 people the times I have been. (The first two times the instructor did them in English). Wednesday night after Pilates I went to dinner with Nela and her two friends for some sushi and then tested two Costa Rican beers! Her friends were cool and shared my same obsession with LOST, even maybe even more than I do!

Bugs: Time for the beetle story, I'll try to keep it concise. My first night, as I try to fall asleep, some GIANT creature is buzzing all around, banging into walls (so I could tell it was hard) and FLYING. I had no idea what to do or what it was (cockroach came to mind). So when it was in my bathroom I ran to my door and opened it, hoping it would fly towards the light, then sprayed bug spray and hid under my sheets. No luck, Plan B - when it flies in the bathroom, trap it in there and deal with it in the morning. Did that, next morning there was a giant beetle on his back (about the size of a quarter) so I trapped it in a glass. Later, I was informed those are normal, pretty mid-sized, and that on their backs they cant do anything, and flicked it out the window. Still, they get into the kitchen/hall/other room area, that I can close off with sliding doors, but they bang around and I can't sleep with that, so I have had many expeditions where I am sure I look nuts if you saw me, but I have captured numerous beetles to release. It's when its not raining and they come out. I just do not like when they are flying. Oh, I also caught a little millipede the other night.
But really, the bugs are not bad! I swear, especially since all the windows and doors are always open, night included, it could be a lot worse! At least no scorpions or spiders -- at least not yet!

Found out where I am going in Japan, Aomori Prefecture, Aomori City. Basically the most North you can get and still be on Honshu (the main island of Japan). I was reading today about their dialect, and unlike most Japanese dialects which can be understood by most, this one can't and needs subtitles for regular Japanese to understand. I listened to some, it sounded like Korean or something completely foreign to me.. Example: Japanese: Hisashiburi (like long time no see) - in Aomori Dialect - Doshijya . yea. Also, it gets like the most snowfall in Japan, in 1981 it had a snow cover of 196 cm, like 6.5 feet. oh jeez. But from what I know, there are at least 5 other new JETs that are leaving from DC that will be there.

Alright, sorry for being so long again and rambling because I am tired! But tomorrow I am up bright and early to catch my 6 am bus to the South Caribbean Coast to go to Puerto Viejo and Cahuita, tomorrow I white water raft and Sunday I snorkel and take a hike through Cahuita National Park. And then return Monday. Work is tough!

Anyways, I am going to leave some advice at the end of every blog, so since I did not last time, I will do two this time:

- Don't cut up a jalepeno and then take out your contacts

- Downey Wrinkle Release is amazing -- pack it on every trip you ever take.

Costa Rica

Well, where to begin?I guess I will explain why I am here first for those of you who do not know! Last summer I interned with Solimar International and Solimar Travel, Travel and Tourism Consulting in DC. It was founded and developed by Chris Seek who is the brother of fellow Stephanie Seek, who lived with us in 2002 (?). Well, so now I am here at their office in Escazu, Costa Rica for five weeks (until July 14) helping them develop content on hotels, tours and destinations for their Costa Rica website (this is the current site and obviously needs a ton of work and is going to be completely changed, hopefully by the time I leave: www.solimartravel.com). The team down here is about 7, they are all really cool and luckily speak english!

Costa Rica is pretty sweet. It's about the size of West Virginia but amazingly has 12 ecosystems which provides for a gajillion types of species of plants and animals to exist and is ideal for tourist since beaches, mountains and everything is close and offers tons of adventures to partake in. My weekends here are planned and booked so I can go out and gather content, I have three weekends (with the exception of this one) and I will be going to beaches, rain forests, volcanoes and a bunch of other cool places! I am very excited!

A quick overview of the people in the office, since it will be easier to talk about later, a lot of them are related! Andres (he's 30 and friends with Ben from solimar in DC - that is how it all got started) runs the operations down here, his sister Nela (25) works here and is a graphic designer, his uncle Alvaro (45) manages the tourism, and then there are two more in the travel company (Ana Maria and Nora) and then Jacobo (web developer) and Eduardo (driver).

I arrived here on Thursday and spent that day settling in, meeting everyone and getting a general idea for what is going on. Friday I started working. Saturday I went to Colon (I don't know how to type in Spanish on my computer so I wont have any squigglies or lines). Colon is where a bunch of their family lives because they have had a bunch of land for generations. One of Andres' and Nela's cousins was returning from working a year in the US so there was a big party with a bunch of relatives. I went up early with Andres and Alvaro and spent the day with Grandma Margarita, walking around the University of Peace's park, driving around and picking lemons. She was awesome, so funny and talked so much about their family history, about bee keeping and the story of the African bee, and also gave me a Spanish lesson. Later I went a hung out with Nela and her mom (who I had been out to dinner with the night before) and then we headed over to the party. Lots of people (because Grandma has five children and most of them have children). The house was amazing and the food was yummy! Costa Ricans are so fun!

These pictures were taken at the party, these were our partners for Pool, Ricardo and I lost to Nela and his sister (but it was very close, down to both teams having to sink the 8-ball)

Today I just hung out, explored the neighborhood and stocked up the kitchen. I walked to the grocery store and bought a ton of cheap cheap cheap tropical fruit (like a pineapple for a dollar, at least 3 mangoes for a dollar.. its great) and veggies (avocados are cheap too!!). But then of course, I pulled a "mom" and forgot salt, which will be necessary for the Tilapia with Pineapple/Papaya spicy salsa which I plan on making tonight (it was supposed to be tuna, but they did not have atun, so i guess this will work). So I returned to the store, but that's ok because it is only like a two minute walk. Also all their meat, fish and cheese (the essentials) are in cases, so the lack of Spanish (at least as of now) will be interesting!

The average weather here is in the mid/high seventies and it is the rainy season so usually midday storms. Iis currently storming right now and has done every day I have been here in the afternoon. But it is always perfect and sunny in the morning (Sorry for the people having hundred degree weather).

Well, this is long enough for now I suppose, maybe next time I can fill some of you in on my first night and the buzzing/flying big beetle incident!

Hasta Luego!